Sun Tzu

"The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands."

"It is a military axiom not to advance uphill against the enemy, nor to oppose him when he comes downhill."

"Discipline can be maintained by benevolence and justice."

"Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt."

"A clever general, therefore, avoids his strength and strikes his weakness."

"The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat."

"Among the three armies, those that make no movement are the best."

"Even the finest sword plunges rusted into the ground."

"By method and discipline are to be understood the marshalling of the army in its proper subdivisions."

"There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare."

"The peak efficiency of knowledge and strategy is to make conflict unnecessary."

"Hold out baits to entice the enemy; feign disorder, and crush him."

"The value of time is immeasurable."

"In making tactical dispositions, the highest pitch you can attain is to conceal them."

"Do not repeat the tactics which have gained you one victory."

"The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy's not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him."

"When you surround an enemy, leave an outlet free."

"Victory is determined by the side that has more and better information."

"Thus one may know that the leader of an army is able to control chaos."

"If fighting is sure to result in victory, then you must fight."

"The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting."

"Before engagement, calculate; after engagement, reflect."

"Know the ground, know the weather, know yourself, know your enemy."

"Maneuvering with an army is advantageous; with an undisciplined multitude, most dangerous."

"Place your army in circumstances of double advantage, and it cannot be defeated."

"The art of war is governed by five constant factors."

"Profound knowledge is found in stillness, not in motion."

"He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight."

"Preparation and timing are the two pillars of military success."

"The supreme consideration in war is to attack the enemy's strategy."